Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 3) — The Commission on Appointments (CA) deferred on Tuesday the confirmation of Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial.
No date has been set on when Ubial will face the CA again.
Prior to Tuesday’s hearing, Ubial had been bypassed twice by the CA. She was reappointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 23.
An appointee is bypassed when the Commission does not confirm the appointment before Congress adjourns.
The Congress will be in session until October 13, and will resume on November 13.
If no date is set before Congress ends its session on October 13, Ubial’s confirmation is considered bypassed for the third time. This means she will not be eligible for reappointment, according to the the new rules of the CA adopted on March 2017.
Senator Tito Sotto grilled the Health Secretary on her proposal to distribute condoms to schools. Ubial said distribution will no longer happen and will be replaced by health education.
“The plan of the Department of Health is to intensify health education and promotion on the youth on how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and show the need for them to avoid such infections,” said Ubial.
Sotto also asked Ubial who funds her foreign trips, which he found were “too numerous or too often for the length of time she has occupied her post.”
Ubial said half of her foreign trips were funded by international organizations, such as the World Health Organization. Only the remaining half, she added, was funded by the Philippine government.
“The difference between me and my predecessors is I travel economy and I stay in budget hotels,” Ubial said.
